Science & Technology, Middle East

Iranian Minister of Science, Research and Technology, Reza Faraji Dana will be questioned in Iranian parliament, Member of parliament's Education and Research Commission, Abdolvahid Fayyazi said, IRNA news agency reported on Nov. 6.

According to the report, some 60 MPs have signed the question bill.

Fayyazi said that the issue of questioning the minister came up due to his unprofessional appointments of deputy minister and other officials.

At the negotiations in Vienna between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the Iranian diplomats proposed a new approach according to which Tehran is ready to go for a substantial simplification of the conditions for the access of international experts to its nuclear facilities, ITAR-TASS reported on Wednesday citing a source familiar with the course of consultations.

Turkey's government and military planners must decide on the country's commitment to a U.S.-led, multinational new-generation fighter jet program by mid-January 2014 at the latest, according to Turkey's top defense procurement official Hurriyetdailynews reported.

Murad Bayar, head of the Undersecretariat for Defense Industries (SSM), has said Ankara will renew an order for an initial batch of two F-35 aircraft soon. The order had been suspended in January.

A survey being conducted by British daily The Guardian shows respondents believe that Iranian President Hassan Rouhani is the most deserving candidate to receive this year's Nobel Peace Prize, Press TV reported.

The opinion poll officially closes on Wednesday. Over 70 percent of the online voters have picked Rouhani from the Guardian journalist nominees, more than four times the number of votes received by the Pakistani teenage social activist, Malala Yousafzai, who is in second place.

Turkey's National Intelligence Organisation has instructed the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK) to work out a draft for a new unmanned aerial vehicle such as a Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle, Zaman newspaper reported today.

According to the newspaper, TÜBİTAK intends to create a drone that can stay aloft for as long as possible and take some 500 kilogramme payload on board. Moreover, the new drone will take pictures and examine the territory over which it will fly.

Iranian engineers have managed to design, manufacture, and install solar power plants in five countries, the Mehr News Agency reported.

A 1.2MW power station has been installed in Iraq. Another one has been installed in Saudi Arabia. A 5MW power station has been installed in the UAE. Meanwhile, the same power stations have been installed in Pakistan and India.

Iran plans to expand the use of solar electricity generation systems for supplying power to houses, Abbas Kazemi, director of Iranian Fuel Conservation Company, said in February.

The U.N. atomic agency and Iran may hold a new round of nuclear talks in August, diplomats said on Monday, in what would be their first meeting since last month's election of a relative moderate as the Islamic state's president, Reuters reported.

If it does take place, the meeting will be scrutinized by the West for any sign of increased Iranian readiness to compromise in the decade-old international dispute over its nuclear program after the June 14 election of Hassan Rouhani.